Between Obligations and Aspirations
by yokishko
Summary: 7 years ago when the 4th Shinobi war ended Uzumaki Naruto disappeared without a trace. All they knew was that he was alive though none could find him. But when an escort mission turns into an unexpected homecoming, how would the future unfold? What happened to everyone's unpredictable blonde? Who is the kid that calls Naruto daddy? (Rating may change if I decide to have a pairing)
1. Prologue

AN: Ya this is another Shippuden fic, I just got this idea randomly at the gym after finishing most of the ultimate ninja generations game. I'm still uncertain if there will be any romance or whatnot in this… But for sure is that this will be a 'future' fic, in other words post-plot/storyline.

**WARNING:** Since this fic starts 7 years AFTER the 4th Shinobi World War ends; a lot of the characters might be a bit OOC but hopefully not too much, especially Naruto but still a lot can happen in 7 years so yeah… Also I began writing this during the time of the emergence of the Shinju in the manga; so if there are discrepancies within the info in this fic compared to what actually happened in canon, please no flaming. Though grammatical or other editorial reviews/messages are quite welcomed, since I don't plan having a beta or editor aside from myself.

Disclaimer: Obviously, if I owned anything, would I actually be writing this on fanfiction rather than making cash off of my ideas? Though all non-canon characters, scenes, and etcetera that are evidently not part of either the manga or anime are from my head.

* * *

Deep in the forests of fire country there lies a village supposedly hidden from the world, and it's name is Konoha (AN: I'm too lazy to say konohagakure no sato all the time). A village of Shinobi.

Like any village, they have a leader. The sole person responsible in managing the inner workings of that keeps the village running. That person is the Hokage.

And currently we find the current godaime Hokage unusually sober, while she seethes over a particular mission request on her desk.

* * *

"Shizune!" Tsunade calls out, and said person enters her office a split second later. Only to be ordered to leave.

"Get me Sakura, Neji, and Shino!"

* * *

Sakura watched the ever incomplete Team Kakashi, despite the current overflow of members, it seemed that they would forever be doomed to have one member short of completion. The only difference was that this time they weren't chasing after the wayward Uchiha; instead Kakashi, Yamato, Sasuke, Sai, and herself were looking for their orange wonder, Namikaze – formerly known as Uzumaki before his disappearance – Naruto.

All those touched by the vibrant jinchuuriki have been on the look out for clues of his whereabouts for the last 7 years, since the 4th Shinobi war ended. But unlike other members of the rookie 9 and Gai's team, due to the Uchiha's acts against the nations the missions they could take outside the village are few and far between. The cherry blossom could still remember the day when the roles between the two boys switched, when the Uchiha came home but the lovable blonde never did.

* * *

_The battle was finally over; all the Zetsu clones and resurrected Shinobi gone, the masterminds completely annihilated, the injured were being treated, and the captured tailed beasts freed from their imprisonment were now entering rebirth. However, the mood among the allied Shinobi was solemn despite their relief at the war being over. The death toll was staggering, not including those who have not yet been found; such as a single Shinobi that practically turned the war in their favor through charisma alone, Uzumaki Naruto._

_It was Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai that received the mission to search for the boy, starting from the area he was last seen engaged in battle. There they found what could only be called a wasteland, hectares upon hectares of land were scorched, excavated, and/or deforested. Waking from their daze, the group immediately sprung into action, fueled by the fear of what state they would find their blonde comrade. Hours upon hours of combing through the rubble and surrounding forestry had passed before they regrouped at the spot where a flare was set off. _

"_My kikaichu have found a faint chakra source at the center of this battlefield" it was Shino who found anything in the rubble. As one they immediately dashed off behind the Aburame heir, only to come to an immediate halt at what – or rather who – they found._

"_No, this doesn't make sense" Sakura was the first to find her voice, slowly aprouching the prone form of one Uchiha Sasuke, covered by the familiar orange eyesore of a jacket._

"_He was last spotted battling Kabuto alongside the reanimated Itachi, he shouldn't be anywhere near this area" Kakashi said as he began to unseal a stretcher he carried in his first aid scroll._

_Neji used his Byakugan to scan Sasuke for any traps and to take account of his internal injuries, giving a nod to Sakura as an ok he then explained the Uchiha's condition to the others._

"_It seems that he has received some first aid, leaving him with only a few fractured and broken bones, and other non-fatal injuries. He has also received a direct chakra transfusion, with a chakra pattern identical to Naruto's."_

"_But now that leaves us with the question – where is Naruto?" Yamato said as Kakashi and Shino lifted the stretcher they strapped the Uchiha on._

_No one answered as they, with grim expressions, made haste to report their findings._

* * *

_To say that the four remaining Kages were displeased would be an understatement, especially in the case of the Hokage and Kazekage._

_In the cacophony of the four leader's expression of anger, they failed to realize that a small had popped ino existence on one of the tables. Well that was until said toad got fed up with being ignored._

_From the toad the Hokage received a scroll and two hitai-ate. With a slight tremor in her voice she read the scroll aloud:_

_**Tsunade-baachan,**_

_**If you got this, then by now you should have the teme with you guys, please give him some medical treatment would you? And baachan he should be given a chance to redeem himself, no execution or life imprisonment. Can you also apologize to Sakura-chan for fulfilling my promise this way?**_

_**Speaking of promises, for the first time since I found my nindo, I will have to break a promise I made to all my precious people.**_

_**For so long I have kept my dream of becoming the Hokage with me, and in the time I spent as a Shinobi of Konoha have I made the promise to achieve my dream. However, in pursuit of such, I have grown to understand that having the title and actually being the hokage are two separate things. A hokage is a protector and a leader, while a Shinobi is the kunai that both protects and fights under the hokage's rule. Both have a common point, that is they both carry with them the expected maturity of a rational adult.**_

_**It is with thoughts of these ideals that I write this letter, and so with a heavy heart but a clear mind do I write what must be said.**_

_**I, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, son born of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, from this day forward do hereby resign from active duty as a Shinobi and revoke my rite as a citizen of Konoha for my grievous act. But in spite of this, I swear upon a blood seal that I shall not make any acts of betrayal towards Konoha and her allies.**_

_**Tsunade-baachan I know that this letter doesn't sound at all like me, heck I feel all stuffy for writing so formal and stuff, but for the short time I've had in my career as a Shinobi and for my life as a Jinchūriki, I found that along the way I had been doing some growing up. With this my views on many things no longer remain as black and white over many things, also I've come to understand that no matter how determined your are there are times when dreams are meant to be let go, not because you can't achieve it but because there are times that for someone else's sake do you have to step away from the path you want to take and instead take on the responsibility of what the right thing to do is.**_

_**I know that this letter is not going to be read by you alone, so I will tell you all now that this decision was not made for me. I have someone who, just after the war had ended, would have been lost to me if I had not taken immediate – if not extreme – action. Their worth outweighs my dream of being hokage, and it is for whom that I will dedicate my future to see to it that they live their days with a smile. Don't for a second think that this was only for them, this only came about because of my selfishness. They were ready to die for my sake and future but I refuse for the two of us to be parted by anything let alone death.**_

_**I will do my best to keep regular contact but it will take a year before any of you will receive such, much preparation and concentration is needed to save my friend. I will tell you now that until the time that I deem it safe for them, my whereabouts will remain secret. Baachan and everyone else reading this, I warn you: don't squander anyone's time and resources in trying to find us, I have taken action to see that none of you will.**_

_**P.S. Tsunade-baachan, don't worry about the paperwork all of this stuff is gonna need. In my jacket that I left with the teme, theres gonna be a scroll with all the documents all ready and just needs your signature in a few places. So don't stress out Shizune-neechan too much by skipping ok? :)**_

_**P.P.S. Make sure the teme is going to be ok, and tell him that I'm sorry for not being able to have our rematch. And sorry too to everyone else for not saying goodbye.**_

_**Sincerely, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto**_

_When Tsunade looked up from the letter, she saw most of the present kunoichi were in tears but no one was as broken as the sole female member of Team Kakashi. A morose air seemed to hang around them, and remained that way even when the suddenly the sandaime's grandson burst in with his team._

"_Did you find Naruto-niichan?!" he gasp-yelled in question, only to get the increase in gloom as his answer._

_Despite seeming the most distraught, it was Sakura who picked herself up and lead the genins away to explain what had transpired. After their leave the remaining kages sent out the orders to have a wide-scale public announcement regarding what was on everyone's minds, one Uzumaki Naruto._

* * *

_The four kages and Mifune stood regally, their bandages not subtracting to their impressiveness, on top of a doton-made platform, standing side by side with straight faces they gazed upon their Shinobi standing at attention._

"_Fellow shinobi and honoured samurai and civilians listening through communication towers, I the kazekage have been asked to speak on behalf of my fellow leaders regarding recent information gained about the welfare our comrade Uzumaki Naruto._

_We have heard many inquiries about him and many words of gratitude for his deeds after the end of this devastating war. But this announcement will mostly be for those of you who have personally interacted with him and for those of Konoha."_

_Gaara paused to briefly scan the crowd's reaction, and mostly saw concern and even fear over what could have happened to Naruto to call for such a grand assembly. Satisfied with what he saw, he continued._

"_A search and retrieval team was formed then sent out to the last known location of Uzumaki Naruto. They have recently returned and we have received more information from another source after their return. Those of you who were close to Naruto know of a promise he made nearly four years ago regarding one Uchiha Sasuke. True to his title of being one of the most unpredictable ninja, he enabled us to acquire said Uchiha by leaving him where he knew we would first search for him." At this it looked like many of the Shinobi wished to say one thing or another but they held their tongue, for now. _

"_Along with the Uchiha we have gained an explanation of sorts about his disappearance from Naruto's summon. So fear not friends of Naruto, he is alive and well." Many smiled at this news only to have them turn into worried frowns with Gaara's next words._

"_However, once again Naruto's kindness has led him to sacrifice, this time it is his own dreams for someone else's wellbeing. For further inquiries over that, a smaller meeting will be held for close friends of Naruto at a later time. This assembly is also to bring to light an S-class secret of Konoha that the godaime Hokage feels should no longer be held from the public. On behalf of the Hokage, I reveal to you Uzumaki Naruto's true lineage. Is in fact the son of Uzumaki Kushina, the previous host for the Kyūbi who hailed from the former Uzushiogakure, while Naruto's father is none other than her husband Namikaze Minato, the late Yondaime Hokage-" the rest of the speech was put on hold as discord erupted from the assembled Shinobi and samurai. And though they didn't know the loudest were the Konoha civilians at their safety bunkers._

_Tsunade along with the others standing next to her watched the chaos unfold, she could only sigh as she had the same thought as the young Kazekage. Despite not even being present Naruto really was, in the words of one Nara Shikamaru, troublesome._


	2. Chapter 1

AN: Ok I'm back with another chapter… Actually I got more written for this than my other fic that I was supposed to be writing two months ago, I'm kinda stuck on it. And every time I try to write more for it I end up coming up with stuff for this fic XD

* * *

Recap: 7 years ago when all the fighting of the war ended, Naruto disappeared. Despite this he fulfilled his promise of bringing the last Uchiha back to Konoha. Also his parentage was revealed to the masses, leaving the village leaders with more headaches not even related to getting their villages back in order.

Now we go back to the present…

* * *

Tsunade analyzed the assembled jōnin in front of her. Starting from the right was her apprentice Haruno Sakura, over the past 7 years she gained the feminine curves she lacked during her teens, not comparable to her teacher but enough that she couldn't complain, she grew out her hair once more but kept it in a bun while on-duty.

Next was Aburame Shino, not much had changed in terms of appearance because he, like many of his genin batch, opted out of wearing the vests but his giant leap in height made up for that lack of change and gave him more presence as he towered over his peers.

And lastly was Hyūga Neji, his hair was now in a low English braid starting from his nape due to its length and he still wears traditional Hyuuga clothing varying only with the color of the pants being either black or brown.

When the three looked like they were about to loose their patience by how their Hokage was studying them, Tsunade began the debriefing.

"Neji, I believe you will be familiar with what this mission I'm about to give you three" the other two jōnin took a glance at their current teammate before giving full attention back to their Hokage.

"I received a request by the New Hyūga Clan head. After the ousting of the previous clan elders and the defeat of the previous clan head, the new clan head immediately decreed the joining of the main and the branch families. And so the abolishment of the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu is imminent, however not only is there a problem with how to safely remove the seal but there is also the necessity of keeping the Byakugan out of enemy hands."

Tsunade let the three absorb the information before continuing.

"Your mission is to locate and escort Konoha's Fūinjutsu Master from his current residence back to the village – " before she could explain further Sakura couldn't stop herself from interrupting.

"But shishõ I thought Kakashi-sensei was Konoha's last Fūinjutsu master, ever since Jiraiya-sama…?"

"No Sakura, Kakashi may be adept in Fūinjutsu but he is no Master. Anyway, this mission will be S-rank due to the conditions set by the Fūinjutsu Master – " again she was interrupted, but this time by Neji.

"Why would he make any such demands?"

"If you would stop interrupting me I could answer your questions!" Tsunade exploded, giving her desk more hairline fractures.

"Ahem, as I was saying, the reason for the high ranking of the mission and the demands of the Fuinjutsu master are there for his and his family's protection, certain precautions must be followed. It is also the reason as to why he does not live within the village. Furthermore, for this mission he will need a long research and preparation time to formulate the process for the safe removal of the current seal and the development of a new seal to protect the Byakugan. He won't be able to move forward in this project by being so far from the village. And thus, he and I have come to an agreement that it's time for him to move back into the village but of course there is a couple of other deals made for the benefit of his children. Now you may ask questions. Neji you first."

"Why would a citizen of Konoha be in any way of risk here in their own village?"

"I cannot answer that without revealing his identity, and I cannot do that until he and his family are safely within the village. Though once you find him I can assure you that you should know him. Shino your turn."

"You mentioned a deal made for the benefit of his child, what did you mean?"

"Due to his lineage and history, and not to mention other unique circumstances, he fears that his youngest child may receive negative treatment or come to harm in some way. Especially since his child insists on entering Konoha's Shinobi academy like the child's father did. His eldest however will most likely be relatively safe upon his initiation into a genin team. Now Sakura."

"Shishō, by the way you speak of the Fuinjutsu master and his children, it seems like you know more inside information than what would have been on file for the mssion request. Are you personally acquainted with them? I thought they have been away from the village for years?"

"Ha! I should have known you'd see through me. But yes, we're practically family. When you get back from the mission, if you want, I could even show you pictures. They're quite hilarious and others endearing. But enough of that, here are the coordinates we received for the town closest to their multi-purpose Fuinjutsu shop called Kogami 狐神 (AN: I made this up, the kanji just means 'fox god'), it's up to you three to locate his shop. There you will find our Fūinjutsu Master and his apprentice and child. Neji will lead this mission, depart in three hours. Dismissed"

* * *

It took the three four days before reaching the small farming village of Chigusa (AN: I made it up too, I wont put the kanji since it's not important), it was only an hour distance from the border of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, so despite the abundant vegetation, it was quite hot.

The three checked in at the only inn in the village, before setting out to gather information from the villagers for any clues on the exact location of the shop called Kogami.

They went their separate ways and agreed to rendezvous at a small restaurant near their inn.

By the end of the day the team assembled to share the information they found on the elusive shop with each other over dinner.

"Sakura, Shino, what were able to find?"

"I don't know about Shino but all I found was that practically the entire village knows of the shop and makes purchases, but they only do so through a third party service or the Fuinjutsu master himself would make personal house visits following a request. Only a handful would know where the shop is, unfortunately most of those people are currently out of the village."

"While you asked around the main area of the village I went to the farms, why? Because it would be logical to ask the farmers who know the surrounding forests. I found that the target visits the town hall every two days to deliver his wares or to meet clients whom need his services personally. A request box and a catalogue of the ready made seals are there, being managed by whom is said to be the Fuinjutsu Master's apprentice. He just delivered his wares this morning before our arrival."

"Good job Shino now all we have to do is get in touch with this apprentice –" Sakura's praise was cut off as Neji suddenly divulged his piece.

"Actually I learned of another way that would allow us to locate his residence. However, if not handled properly, we may be perceived to be hostile by the target."

"What are you talking about? Why'd they believe we're hostile?"

"We are quite pressed for time, the sooner we find them the better, if we go through the town hall plan, two days will be wasted. What I'm suggesting is we wait by the village daycare and primary school. It seems that the target's Son is among the finishing students, and that the apprentice picks him up every afternoon when his father can't."

"Your plan seems the quickest, perhaps Sakura should be the one visible when waiting at the school. She looks less threatening between the three of us."

"I'll let that comment slide for now Shino, since I know you weren't trying to insult me."

"Well that settles it then, we'll proceed early tomorrow."

* * *

Sakura fidgeted as she approached the teacher watching the children who were waiting for their guardians of parents. The elderly lady minding the children looked how the ideal grandmother was supposed to be, but somehow Sakura observed that despite her age she was quite fit as if she had undergone some warrior conditioning during her youth.

"E-excuse me…" Sakura nervously said to get the woman's attention.

"Yes? How can I help you Shinobi-san?" The old lady gave her a closed-eyed smile that just sent Sakura's skin crawling with fear. (AN: If you've watched Bleach then think of the smile that Unohana Retsu gives people)

"W-well you see, my team and I were hoping to meet with the Fūinjutsu master who lives in the area. We were told that he sometimes comes to pick up his son here…" and suddenly Sakura felt the creepy feeling being lifted.

"Oh! You mean Toruna-san (AN: yes I'm a lazy bum, with just rearranging his name XD). Are you perhaps from Konoha?"

"Yes we are. Why do you ask?"

"Well yesterday Toruna-san was saying that he received a summons back to his village, so he was passing the word around the village that as soon as his escorts arrived that he would be moving to Konoha, he said he'd still take orders but it would take longer since it would be by messenger pigeons, also little Kurama would be able to enroll into the Shinobi Academy…. Oh dear! I've held you up long enough, little Kurama and Narumi-kun left a few minutes before the class was even dismissed today. If you head south from here you might catch up to them, if not then just keep going south towards the forests until you see the lake, from there head a little between North East and East for half a mile into the forest. You should be able to find his workshop around that area."

"Thank you! And to answer your question, yes we are the team assigned to escort him and his family. Well we'll be going now."

Sakura quickly returned to Shino and Neji, after reiterating her conversation with the elderly lady they quickly made their way to locate the workshop. Going at a moderate (Shinobi) pace, they reached the lake in less than ten minutes and the half-mile took fifteen.

"Shino send out your Kikaichu to scout out, I'll use my Byakugan to see if there are any possible hidden security seals as traps. Sakura be on the ready to either dispel any possible genjutsu or to aid Shino and I medically. The mission scroll said to proceed with caution when going to the shop."

The three cautiously walked side by side into the beginnings of a small patch of forest. Fearful of what seals could be hidden by the greenery, especially seals of a Fuinjutsu master, they were quite high strung. Ready to defend or flee at the slightest hint of danger.

Too bad it was all for naught because as soon as they passed the tree line hundreds upon hundreds of seals lit up from where they stood and spread out in waves, similar to ripples in a pond.

Startled at the sudden trap the three of them drew out kunais preparing for some kind of assault, when finally the last of the seal waves went deeper into the forest. They didn't dare move for fear of being a target for something or other, suddenly just a foot from where they stood seals slowly emerged on the ground in a spiral, when it stopped moving there was a small 'poof' of smoke. And there on the ground lay a partially unrolled scroll.

Neji scanned it with his eyes before picking it up and reading alound:

**Welcome Hyūga Neji, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino. I'm sorry for the shocking greeting, but this entire forest has seals that alert me of anyone entering and in the event that a person has ever received Shinobi training enters the forest, the analytic seals hone in on them and send me information on the signature. Usually just that wouldn't give me your identities, just your strength and nature, but I've been informed by the Hokage ahead of time of your signatures. Anyway please unroll this scroll further, there are three slips rolled in. These are what I call 'guiding seals' attach these either on your arm or for best results some kind of rope or ribbon tied to your person, after just push some chakra into it and it will lead you to it's partner seal that is currently attached to my shop's entrance. **

**P.S. If no one is at the shop counter just ring the bell. Narumi, my apprentice and eldest son, will escort you into are home. I'm currently indisposed with getting my youngest to wash up, then I have to prepare lunch, and after finish up packing for our trip.**

**P.P.S. don't worry about the seal traps in the forest I've removed them all – aside from the ones earlier – yesterday.**

Neji handed out the seals and each of them attached theirs to some ninja wire and activated it. The seals lit up and started lightly pulling into the same direction. They set of at a more relaxed running pace into the forest as they conversed.

"I've never heard of a guiding seal before, have either of you guys heard of it?" Sakura asked her team mates

"Taking into account that he is a master, he probably designed these on his own." Neji said while still inspecting the floating paper with his Byakugan.

"The farmers that I spoke to told me that Toruna-san also makes seals that can be used by civilians, the seals need no chakra activation but instead have an expiration date instead." Shino added.

"Wow, hey Neji did the mission scroll tell us anything else about Toruna-san? Like appearance or age"

"No not a thing, but then again Sakura, Tsunade-sama did say that she knew them personally. So no other information was exactly needed."

They remained silent as a small shop came into view…


	3. Chapter 2

AN: Sorry if this chapter has a lot of typos, I couldn't sleep so I decided to write this… I ended up not sleeping by accident OTL

* * *

Recap: Tsunade sends Sakura, Neji, and Shino on a mission to escort someone that goes by the name of Toruna to Konoha, due to a request by the new Hyuga clan head. Getting directions on how to get to the shop Kogami then set out into the forest.

The small shop came into view…

* * *

It was a small shop made of wood, large eaves shaded the front and the entrance of the shop. The front Fusuma (AN: you know the Japanese sliding doors, not to be confused with Shoji) was parted, giving a view of the inside of the shop.

As the three Shinobi entered the shop, their guiding seals fell limp and lost all color; it was now just a simple piece of paper. They saw empty shelves and glass cases along the sides of the shop, and looking to the back of the shop was the counter that was unmanned it was empty aside from a small orange service bell.

As instructed in the letter, Neji rang the bell twice then waited for the said Narumi. It only took ten minutes before something happened. And by something, I meant on the wall behind the counter a door with seals painted onto it began fading into view. Once the door fully manifested, it opened a crack and a small head peaked out.

"Are you Hyūga Neji, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino?" The boy asked as he stepped out from behind the door.

He seemed like a timid boy no older than 12 years old. His light brown hair pulled into a neat ponytail, light blue eyes sparkled with innocence and curiosity. Dressed in a white shirt and blue vest littered with pockets, over his simple shin length Shinobi pants was a small belt with some brushes and ink bottles securely strapped on. His outfit was finished with blue Shinobi sandals.

"We are" Neji spoke for them "Are you the Narumi described on the letter?"

"O-ok, I'm Narumi. Dad is still making lunch so he told me to bring you to the house after getting the bell and destroying the shop. S-so could you f-follow me out of the shop."

They followed the boy out of the shop while Sakura asked him some questions.

"What did you mean by destroying the shop?"

"D-dad said that since we aren't going to come back here anymore, t-that the shop should be demolished. S-so that there would be less t-traces of our family here. I d-don't really get it b-but dad said that its for our s-safety."

"Huh, so how are you supposed to destroy the shop? We are in the forest so you can't use any katon or exploding tags."

"Dad gave me this" Narumi brought out a large piece of paper filled with intricate kanji forming spiral pattern around a paragraph. "He told me to first set up a small area with his barrier seals then stick this on the front of the shop then to put some chakra in it and then to run away from the shop and into the place where the barrier is and activate it as fast as I can."

The Shinobi watched stunned as the small boy got to work, it shocked them with how natural he seemed as he began drawing seals they've never seen before on small pieces of paper. Once done, he placed them on the ground with four at corners and one at the center.

They followed his instructions to stand within the area inside the seal, they watched with bated breathe as the young boy activated the large seal he stuck onto the shop and ran to the where they stood. He touched the center seal of the barrier seal he set up and a transparent red barrier quickly sprung up and formed a box around them.

Only a minute later they looked back to the shop to see that from the large seal the kanji emerged from the paper forming lines that crisscrossed to form a sphere around the shop. The kanji suddenly lit up with blue light and started spinning faster than they could see. The effect looked like a giant rasengan, the shop couldn't been seen anymore and only a loud high-pitched screeching could be heard.

As soon as it started it ended in less than two seconds, where the small quaint shop once stood was now just a shallow crater and fine dust.

"W-what the hell was that?!" Sakura exclaimed, while her teammates silently approached the crater to inspect it.

"D-dad hasn't named it yet, he only finished making it t-three days ago…" Narumi answered timidly.

"U-um, could we go n-now? Dad e-expects me back b-by the time he f-finishes cooking…"

* * *

"So Narumi-kun tell us about your family." Sakura asked as she made small talk.

"W-well theres me, my younger b-brother Kurama, and Dad. I-I'm 12 now and Kurama is six… um, dad teaches me how to be a Shinobi a-and said that when I become a g-genin he'll pass onto me his s-summons scroll… My brother K-kurama wants to be a Shinobi t-too, dad said that Kurama w-will enroll at the Shinobi a-academy of Konoha because Kurama wants to d-do everything exactly the same as h-how dad became a Shinobi."

"What about you? Why didn't you go to the academy?" Neji, oddly enough, joined the conversation.

"D-dad asked me a few years ago, i-if I wanted to enroll. He said that if I wanted we'd move nearer t-to Konoha so that I could still c-come home after school. But dad did so much for me I d-didn't want to make him work harder; he almost n-never slept when Kurama and I were younger. H-he cooked, cleaned, and took care of us; e-even when he was so busy with his own s-studies and training, and work he would always play w-with us and tell us bed time stories…"

A silence descended on the small group, no one could think of anything else to say but great respect bloomed in the hearts of the three Shinobi for the Fūinjutsu master.

Finally after 15 minutes of jumping through trees, the young boy led them to a clearing where a medium sized house stood. Next to it was a large vegetable garden the kinds of vegetables were numerous.

The house only had one floor, the exterior was shaped like an L-shaped traditional Japanese home, and the eaves covered the elevated porch that ran along the inner sides of the L-shaped house, the walls connected to the porch were Shoji. One side had the shoji slid completely open, revealing a western styled dining room and kitchen.

Narumi led the three Shinobi toward the opened Shoji instead of the actual entrance of the home. Leaving their sandals outside, the boy led the Shinobi toward the turned back of their client, who was still cooking.

"Dad! I brought the Konoha Shinobi like you asked. The shop is gone too, that seal was so cool!" Narumi said excitedly, his stutter disappearing with his shyness, as he ran to his father.

The Fuinjutsu master turned around and the three Shinobi could only stare in shock, because right before them this 'Toruna' looked almost exactly like their missing friend.

"Hey guys, long time no see."

(AN: I was so tempted to end this chapter here… I'm such a bastard XD but I won't since the chapter would be too short for my taste)

The voice was unmistakable, although deepening slightly it was still the same. The three could only stare not knowing what to say. For seven long years they looked for him to no avail, and now just a few meters before them stood one Uzuzmaki-Namikaze Naruto, wearing a frilly white apron over a black yukata with the sleeves rolled up.

"NARUTO!" Faster than anyone could blink, Sakura had lauched herself and punched him before grabbing him and trying to hug him to death. "You knucklehead! Where the hell have you been! Do you think that sending us vague letters and gifts without letting us know where you were was ok?! It wasn't you idiot! Don't you know how hard we looked for you!" Sakura hysterical blubbering was cut short when she felt a small body jump at her from behind and tried to pull her away from Naruto.

"DADDY! What are you doing to daddy?! Let go! Let go!" A small red headed child was at her back pulling with all his might – not that it did anything because of Sakura's super strength – while angry tears rolled down his flushed cheeks.

The sudden appearance of the small child seemed to unfreeze the rest of the people in the room. Narumi ran to try and make his brother let go of Sakura, while Neji gestured to Naruto and said:

"I think lunch is burning."

In a flash, literally, Naruto turned off the heat and brought the smoking pan to the sink to soak. After he did that, he turned back to his friends and ushered them to sit down at the dining table.

"Luckily what burned wasn't actually our lunch, just an extra side dish." He said to the three Shinobi as he helped the red headed small child onto a raised chair. To say the Shinobi were stunned was an understatement, here there friend was being so mother-ish and on the table was their supposed lunch, what shocked them even more was not only was there no ramen of any kind but there were several vegetable dishes on the table.

* * *

Lunch was mostly uneventful, aside from Kurama and Narumi trying put their vegetables on the other's plate, the Shinobi were shocked that Naruto could actually cook well and actually ate the vegetables while encouraging his sons to do the same. The shared only light topics while eating because of the children in the room and at Naruto's sharp look when Neji tried to bring up their mission.

When they all finished eating, Naruto told the Narumi to help Kurama pack as well as pack himself.

"N-naruto, these boys are your children?" Sakura started up the conversation as the boys left.

"Yes" he answered without hesitation "You've met Narumi right, the red head is Kurama."

"Where is their mother?" Neji asked

"I was hoping you guys wouldn't ask that" Naruto sighed "If you've noticed Narumi looks nothing like me, while Kurama is practically my clone with red hair. Around five years and six months ago I met Narumi, it was in one of those gambling towns that I passed through. Kurama had only turned one, and I left him at the day care of Chigusa. I went to the gambling town because I realized I needed a lot more money than I thought I would for the long run. When I was heading back with my winnings I noticed a small boy diving into the garbage dumpster in one of the alleys, I couldn't leave him alone there so I went to talk to him. Well long story short I brought him home and a month later I officially adopted him."

"What about Kurama? And that still didn't answer my earlier question"

"Geez, don't get all huffy about it. Now where was I, anyway Kurama is my son by blood, he doesn't have a mother because in a sense I was the one who gave birth to him-" he was cut off as Sakura interrupted him.

"That's not possible! You're male!"

"Shhh, quiet Sakura-chan, I don't want the kids to hear any of this. Neji could you check what their doing right now?"

"Narumi is trying to fold the clothes while Kurama just keeps throwing clothes around the room."

"Thanks Neji, hey Shino could you command your bugs to warn us if the kids come within hearing distance of our conversation?"

"It is done"

(AN: WARNING: Some spoilers, if the anime hasn't come out with this yet, from the manga. Nothing major just the Rikudo Sennin's name)

"Thanks. Now as I was saying you remember during the war weird shit happened to me, and in some other dimension I got involved with Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the sage of six paths, somehow. Anyway when I got some of his power, I also got some understanding over one of his jutsu Banbutsu Sōzō. He could basically create things out of thin air using that technique. Well anyway, please don't freak out ok, when my battles finished during the war my body was changing. It came from accidentally absorbing both the Yin and Yang parts of the Kyūbi; I couldn't stop the absorption and in the end what was happening was my human body was turning into something that could handle the excess of power."

"W-what are you trying to say Naruto?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.

"You guys need to know everything that happened to me then, to understand how Kurama was born." The Shinobi remained silent to let him continue. "Back then I didn't know what I was going to become but one thing I understood was that when someone's chakra is gone, down to the very last drop, they die. The kyubi, Kurama, and I learned to become friends during the war, he told me why he'd attacked Konoha and everything. He was going to disappear forever, not be reborn like the other biju; his soul was going to disappear. So I used my knowledge of the Banbutsu Sōzō to save him. Of course I'm no sage of six paths, so I couldn't just create something out of nothing. I used the only thing I could use at the time, myself. I somehow formed Kurama's new body by gathering all that was left of my human body (AN: like his blue chakra, unconverted cells, blood, and his life essence, etc.) but I was doing this in conjunction with my transformation into something like a new Kyūbi. I made something like a chakra womb and there, using what was left of me, created Kurama's body to suit Kurama's soul. I can't really explain how I succeeded because not even I know. In summary I'm kinda like a mutation of a biju because instead of being made of just chakra I actually have a physical body, and so I am the new Kyubi with powers, memories, and all while Kurama is the same type of being as me but aside from his soul he is a completely new person with only just recently acquiring enough chakra to be a low chunin. It will grow over time, but it'll take a long time."

"That's… I… Just wow… I don't know what to say." Sakura said in a soft tone

"This is why you asked for protection isn't it? Who else knows?" Neji asked

"Kurama has no way to defend himself, he literally is just a child. A biju child but a child nonetheless. I don't know if baachan told you, but she knows everything. I regularly send her letters and pictures both to stay in contact with her and for her to help me document Kurama and my development over time."

"Naruto, my kikaichu tell me that the children are coming."

"We'll discuss this more with baachan and the other when we get to the village, right now I have to finish packing."


End file.
